A few quick observations on the Bruins' 3-1 win over the Canucks on Tuesday night at TD Garden.

STILL SOME RIVALRY: Although it didn't have quite the explosiveness of the previous two regular-season meetings, the Bruins and Canucks still have a little bit of hate left for each other.

There was still some shoving, a few late hits, scrums breaking out at the end of the first and second periods. Johnny Boychuk said he took a "couple jabs to the back" that he didn't appreciate.

"When something like that happens to you, you get a little ticked off and you want to just crush people," Boychuk said. "I mean, it's not a big secret. You just have to try and do it cleanly."

Coach Claude Julien said the action was still "pretty intense … but it was done in a more tasteful way."

For what it's worth, the box score credited 52 hits in the game (always an unreliable number, but still fun to examine). Boychuk clobbered David Booth three separate times.

NO. 1 LINE: The Bruins' top lines continues its hot streak, registering a combined five points in the victory.

Jarome Iginla (goal, assist) has 11 points in his last six games, with four multi-point games. Milan Lucic has seven points and David Krejci eight in the run.

The Lucic goal in the first period is a play the line works on in practice. Lucic made a short backwards pass to Iginla in the defensive zone then broke out with speed as Iginla and Krejci led the race. Krejci slowed down and hit Lucic as the trailer for the goal, something they've used often.

'D' UP: The Bruins shut down the Canucks' high-flying top lines, with stars like the Sedin twins and Ryan Kesler.

That group has been struggling lately as the Canucks have now dropped five straight with eight goals in those games, but Vancouver did try to push late by combining the Sedins with Kesler. At that point Julien moved Zdeno Chara and Boychuk together.